Every Car

And I have had a few!

 

UMM177M - This was my first car. An Austin Allegro 1500 Super. This was the one with the 1500cc engine and a 5 speed gearbox!!!!!!

I got the car before I had started driving and soon wrote it off by reversing into the neighbours MG Midget one morning. The MG only suffered a bent tin badge! Despite major body damage, the car was in constant use until the clutch release bearing failed and being an Austin, they had changed the design meaning loads of other bits needed to be replaced too. This made it uneconomical to repair so was sent to the breakers yard.
PGK854V - Following on from the All Agro, a Mk1 Vauxhall Cavalier 1600L became my car. Bought from another neighbour this proved to be a good car despite me reversing (not very good at reversing was I?) into a wall.
DEC333W - The Vauxhall badged version of the Open Manta. The 2000GLS was mine!
B158WKJ - My first Ford, an XR3i which proved very quickly that Fords do rust. Despite being a much newer car than the ones I had owned previously this was a bit of a rust bucket, but it went well.
C801PGX - Missing the bigger cars I had previously had, I part exchanged the XR3i for a 2.0 GL Sierra just one month before I got a new job that came with a company car.
E???EPU - My first Company car. The Ford Orion 1.6 Ghia Automatic was a bit (understatement) slow but it was free!
H173GNO - My first ever brand new car. This was a 1.8L Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier that was surprisingly quick for the model. Even the fleet manager I had at the time thought it had been tinkered with as it was faster than the 2.0 SRi130 that we had on the fleet. It was around this time that I got a fuel card meaning all my fuel was paid for by someone else!!!!
L404TGF - My first ever Diesel and first ever Turbo engine car, a Citroen ZX Volcane TD. This little pocket rocket rocket used to show up 8v Golf GTi's at the lights! Doing about 50,000 miles a year as a field engineer and a silly 4500 mile service interval, this car had a standing order with the local Citroen dealer to be serviced once a month! Glad I wasn't paying the bills.

Eventually it had to be replaced though as George was on his way!
L?????? - Another Mk3 Cavalier. This time, it was a 1.6L
M811BGF - Following a knee operation I managed to blag an automatic from the company. A Citroen Xantia 1.8LX Auto. These are great for going over speed bumps with their hydromatic suspension. you don't even need to slow down!
C?????? - Having left the previous company it was time to start buying my own cars again. The first was an 8v Golf GTi.
R734GGO - Another company car (probably the last). This time a 2ltr Rover 400 (Rover 420). Out of all the cars I have had, this one probably had the most visits to a garage due to faults and breakdowns.
L????? - Time to start getting some nice cars. This one was a Saab 9000CS that I bough off my dad. I say bought, it had no engine due to a failed oil filter so he gave me the car. I just had to get the engine sorted. It had 193,000 miles on it when I got this!

Those that know me will know that this was the first car to wear my private number plate.
RJ52OXP - At least that was the number on it when I bought it! The Renault Laguna 2.2DCi Initiale was a fast, comfortable car but had it's fair share of problems. Having spent 6 weeks in the workshop following a service and been quoted over £1000 for a Cambelt change and 72,000 mile service on the Laguna, it had to be replaced .
EF55GUG - a Ford Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 TDCi (130). Like the Laguna, this was a comfortable, economical, quick car. Unlike the Laguna, servicing was cheap and not much really went wrong with it. Needing something bigger to tow the caravan that Mrs B decided we needed, it had to go.
GV11??? - Well, that was the number on it when it came out the showroom. A Hyundai Santa Fe Premium. Brand new and all mine! Hopefully this will still be going strong with me as the main driver when the Warranty runs out in July 2016! This is the first, and probably the only, brand new car I will buy with my money!

As well as having the cars listed above, I have had a couple of toy cars running in parallel.

  Austin Mini 1000 - Was eventually traded in for a new car for Mrs B. Great little car that handles like a go-kart but had a rotten sub frame. Getting the drum brakes balanced for MOT's was a hit and miss affair too.
  Mitsubishi Shogun 2.8TD GLS. This was a great big comfortable car but was getting on a bit (170,ooo miles) and proving to be too unreliable to be entrusted with taking us on our holidays with the caravan that Mrs B decided we had to have.